Arctic Information Transfer Meeting
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OCS Study MMS 88-0040 ALASKA OCS REGION Arctic Information Transfer Meeting Conference Proceedings Beaufat Sea U.S. De~artmentof the Interior ~ineralkManagement Service Alaska OCS Region June 1988 OCS Stucjy MMS 08-0040 ALASKA OCS REGION 1987 ARCTIC INFORMATION TRANSFER MEETING Conference Proceedings 17-20 November 1987 Sheraton Anchorage Hotel Anchorage, Alaska Prepared for: U.S. Deparlment of the Interior Mlnerals Management Servfce Alaska OCS Reglon 949 East 36th Avenue, Room 110 Anchorage, Alaska 995084302 Under Contract No. 14-12-0001-30297 Logistical Support and Report Preparation by: MBC Applied Environmental Sclences 947 Newhall Street Costa Mesa, Callforla 92627 June 1988 "This report has been reviewed by the Alaska Outer Continental Shelf Region, Minerals Management Service, U.S. Department of the Interior and approved for publication. The opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in the report are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the view of the Minerals Management Service. Mention of trade names for commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendations for use. This report is exempt from review by the Minerals Management Service Technical Publication Unit and Regional Editor." CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION ..................................... 1 Summary of Oil and Gas Activities in the U.S. Beaufort Sea .Jeff Walker ...........3 PAPERS ON PHYSICAL SCIENCES The Arctic Ocean .M . J . Hameedi ............................ 7 Arctic Remote Sensing .W . J . Stringer .......................... 11 Hameedi/Stringer: Questions and Discussion ........................ 17 Sea Ice Motion .Robert S. Pritchard ........................... 19 Arctic Circulation and Physical Oceanography .Knut Aagaard ............... 25 Pri tchard/Aagaar& Questions and Discussion ....................... 31 Ocean Circulation and Oil Spill Trajectory Modeling for Alaskan Coastal Waters . Malcolm L . Spaulding ............................... 35 The MMS Coastal Zone Oil Spill Model .Mark Reed ................... 39 Spaulding/Reed: Questions and Discussion ......................... 43 Beaufort Sea Technology Update .Dennis V . Padron ................... 47 The Beaufort Sea Monitoring Program: Analysis of Trace Metals and Hydrocarbons from Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Activities . Paul D. Boehm and Margarete S. Steinhauer ......................53 Padron/Steinhauser: Questions and Discussion ........................59 Coastal Geomorphology of Arctic Alaska .A . Sathy Naidu ................ 61 Arctic Boundary Issues .Stanley Ashmore ........................ 63 Naidu/Ashmore: Questions and Discussion ......................... 65 iii PAPERS ON ENDANGERED SPECIES Page Bowhead Whale Feeding . W. Jobn Richardson ...................... 67 Applications of Stable Isotope Ratio Techniques to the Natural History of Marine Mammals . Donald M. Scbell and Susan M. Saupe ......... 71 Richardson/Schell: Questions and Discussion ........................ 75. Oil and Euphausiids: Laboratory Results. Ecological Notes. and Oil Spill Implications .Paul A. Fishman ..................... 79 Tracking Whales by Satellite .Bruce R. Mate ....................... 83 FishmanIMate: Questions and Discussion ......................... 89 Aerial Surveys of Endangered Whales .Sue E . Moore ................... 93 Moore: Questions and Discussion .............................. 97 PAPERS ON SOCIAL AND ECONOMICS Sociocultural and Socioeconomic Changes in Barrow .Rosita Worl ............. 101 Worl: Questions and Discussion .............................. 105 I PAPERS ON BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES Arctic Marine Ecosystems of the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas . Donald M. Scbell .................................. 107 Arctic Fishes: Distribution. Abundance and Uses .Randy Bailey .............. 111 Bailey: Questions and Discussion ............................. 113 Effects of Industrial Activities on Ringed Seals in Alaska as Indicated by Aerial Surveys . Kathryn J . Frost and Lloyd F. Lowry ....... 115 Marine Mammals of Kotzebue Sound .Kathryn J . Frost and Lloyd F . Lowry ....... 121 Acquisition and Curation of Alaskan Marine Mammal Tissues . P . R. Becker ....... 127 Frost/Becker. Questions and Discussion .......................... 131 ISHTAR: Inner Shelf Transfer and Recycling in the Bering and Chukchi Seas . C. Peter McRoy .................................. 135 McRoy: Questions and Discussion ............................. 139 ARCTIC INFORMATION UPDATE SESSION Page A Study of Possible Meteorological Influences on Polynya Size . W. J . Stringer and J . E . Groves ........................... 141 Beaufort/Chukchi Ice Motion and Meteorology Update . Carol H . Pease .......... 145 Circulation: Beaufort Sea Update .Knut Aagaard ..................... 151 Stringer/Pease/Aagaard: Questions and Discussion ..................... 155 Current Response to Wind in the Chukchi Sea. A Regional Coastal Upwelling Event .Walter R . Johnson .............. 157 Arctic Plankton Communities .Robert T . Cooney ..................... 163 Cooney: Questions and Discussion ............................. 169 Isotope Studies of Arctic Zooplankton . Susan M. Saupe. Donald M. Schell and Denis H . Thomson .............. 173 Continental Shelf Sediments. Arctic Alaska . A. Sathy Naidu .............. 177 Chukchi Sea Benthos .Howard M. Feder ........................ 181 Saupe: Questions and Discussion ............................. 191 Population Genetic Structure of Arctic Char from Rivers of the North Slope of Alaska .Rebecca Everett ............ 193 Pelagic Food Webs in the Chukchi Sea .Alan M . Springer ................ 197 Springer: Questions and Discussion ........................... 201 Endicott Development and Environmental Monitoring Program and Industry Perspective .Pamela R . Pope ..................... 203 Coastal Processes and Oceanographic Property Distributions in Stefansson Sound .Lou E . Hachmeister ..................... 207 Habitat Usage and Movement Patterns of Anadromous Fish in the Prudhoe Bay Region of the Central Beaufort Sea . Domoni R . Glass ................................. 211 Hachmeister: Questions and Discussion ........................ 215 PAPERS ON INFORMATION MANAGEMENT Page OCSEAP Data and Information Management - M. J. Hameedi .............. 219 Design and Management of the Alaskan Marine Database - William Danforth ....... 22 1 Arctic Living Marine Resource Database, Interactive Assessment Capability - Andrew Robertson ............... Marine Data and Information - An Alaskan Perspective - Michael L. Crane ....... Robertson/Danforth/Crane: Questions and Discussion .................. Cataloguing and Appraisal of Oceanographic Data and Industry Activities in Arctic Canada - Brian Smiley .............. The Environmental Studies Data System (ESDS) - Donald Aurand and William Lang ......................... Smiley/Aurand: Questions and Discussion ........................ FISHERIES STUDY PLANNING SESSION ....................... APPENDICES Appendix I Information Transfer Meeting Agenda ' Appendix I1 Information Transfer Meeting Speaker Biographies Appendix I11 Information Transfer Meeting Attendees Appendix IV Acronym List Appendix V Conversion Table ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The work and the support of the following staff is gratefully acknowledged: Minerals Management Sewice Alaska OCS Region Toni Johnson, Conference Coordinator Support Staff Karen Gibson Marie Colver Linda Thurston Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Assessment Program Information Update Session Jawed Hameedi, Session Coordinator National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) MBC Applied Environmental Sciences Logistical Coordination, Report Preparation Robert R. Ware, Marine Scientist Charles T. Mitchell, Marine Scientist Kathryn L. Mitchell, Logistical Support Phyllis Barton, Word Processing Larry Jones, Graphics Anchorage Hi1ton Hotel Susan Sutter, Conference Manager Jane Colver, Conference Coordinator Outside Word Processing Services Bonnie Hazlitt MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE ARCTIC INFORMATION TRANSFER MEETING Since 1975, the Minerals Management Service (MMS) Alaska Outer Continental Shelf Region Environmental Studies Program has funded over 100 million dollars of research to study the Arctic environment. The purpose of these studies is to provide federal resource managers and policymakers with the best information available on the Arctic for decision-making purposes, and to improve our understanding of the potential impacts of oil and gas development on this ecologically sensitive region. Information Transfer Meetings (ITMs) are MMS-mandated and are designed to be used as a tool to share MMS Environmental Studies Program results with other MMS program personnel, and also the scientific community, other federal, state, and local government agencies, and the general public. ITMs generally focus on information resulting from past and present ongoing research, in particular lease sale planning areas. The Alaska Region Environmental Studies Program has funded two ITMs to date. The first ITM was held in Anchorage, Alaska in May 1985 and focused on results of studies conducted in the Bering Sea region. The conference proceedings (OCS Study 85-0084) are available through the Alaska OCS office. The second and most recent ITM is the subject of these proceedings. Held at the Anchorage Hilton between 17-20 November 1987, the ITM focused on studies and research conducted in the Arctic region - the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas. In onjunction with the ITM, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),